Directions: From Poughkeepsie, take Route 9 north to Rhinebeck. Make a left at the traffic light onto Route 9G. Take the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge across the river. Stay on routes 199/209 until you see Route 28 west/Pine Hill on the right side and take this exit. Make a right at the first light onto Forest Hills Drive and head up the hill, bearing right at the fork. The restaurant is on the left side of the complex.

Ratings Breakdown (out of five stars)

Food *** 1/2

Ambience ****

Service *** 1/2

Value ****

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From the 1960s to the early 1980s, Kingston was home to the Skytop Steak House, situated on a bluff overlooking the city. On top of the restaurant was a prominent neon sign that was visible for miles  Kingston's modest version of the iconic letters that grace Hollywood's hills. Then one day the sign went dark and the place started a lonely slide into disuse and disrepair.

Last April, after six months of renovations, the tall red neon block letters were again aglow, heralding the new incarnation of Skytop Steakhouse (and Brewing Co.) under the ownership of Joseph LoBianco, whose family also owns Hyde Park Brewery and Steak House across the river. In the kitchen are two graduates of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park  Clinton Terry and Eric Anderson.

From the outside, the single-level edifice has a lodge-like appearance, and this rustic wood and stone theme continued as we entered the cavernous Tap Room, one of two dining areas. A cathedral ceiling lined with honey-pine sheathing furnished a sense of warmth and openness to the space.

The large curvy bar is a focal point, with its handsome granite-top, Oz-like back bar of illuminated booze bottles and huge plasma TV. But the real showstopper is the wide wall of glass at the rear of the building, which provides ever-changing vistas of uptown Kingston and environs.

Six handmade draught beers are always on tap at this microbrewery  four regulars, a rotating dark brew and the Barrel 28, which affords brewmaster John Eccles a chance to indulge his creative whimsy.

We sampled pints of the City View London Porter and Highland Diesel Scotch Ale (both $4). The latter had a pronounced smoky profile without much bitterness, while the rich porter was full of deep malty-cocoa flavors and a little sweetness. Both were delicious.

Starting off right

"Poached  not boiled." Is this the right way to order a Shrimp Martini ($9.95)? I'm not sure if shrimp is the right word to describe the three colossal, ale-poached shellfish that were hooked on the side of my partner's martini glass. These tender, pink linebackers hovered above a zesty gin-laced cocktail sauce with long crunchy slivers of julienned cucumber and carrot jutting out the top.

Even if you hunt around a bit, you won't find many places that make their own charcuterie these days. Housemade Boar Sausages ($8), a special, ensnared me with its tender, succulent meat  a bit like pork, but richer and more interesting. The two links were nicely browned and were seasoned with herbs and a suggestion of citrus. Accompanying them was a bright red mound of tart cranberry-apple chutney and a few random splotches of dijon mustard.

Surf, turf and more

Skytop offers a wide variety of beef cuts, ranging from $18.95 to $38.95 for a 32-ounce porterhouse built for two. You can have your steak and eat it too with customized surf and turf options that allow you to add on a portion of shellfish; these upgrades go for an extra $8.95-$16.95.

Some of the steaks are dry-aged, such as the Bone-In N.Y. ($23.95) my companion ordered. Dry-aging is done in a controlled environment, resulting in a tenderer, more flavorful piece of meat. This steak was cooked on the mark to medium rare, but came covered in a bordelaise (red wine-shallot) sauce rather than the requested bearnaise. A ramekin of the latter soon arrived; we thought the bearnaise needed a touch more vinegar to better tame its buttery richness. On the side were sauteed veggies and a baked potato.

For the Stuffed Quail ($18), a special, two whole, semi-boneless birds were filled with an earthy carrot, leek and mushroom stuffing. Though wrapped in bacon before roasting, the dainty quail were a tad dry. In the middle of the plate was a mound of lean roasted-garlic mashed potatoes flecked with chives, along with a garlicky medley of still-crunchy zucchini, tomatoes and haricots verts. Underneath each bird was a pond of red wine demi-glace sauce, a competent rendition.

Just desserts

Contrary to its moniker, Brewhouse PB Pie ($6) is not made on the premises, and neither are most of the desserts. Still, this was a decent wedge of the chilled confection, combining salty peanut butter mousse with a thick layer of fudgy ganache, all aboard a black-bottom cookie crust.

The Peach Napoleon ($6) sandwiched homemade creme brulee and peach slices between two buttery rectangles of puff pastry that lolled atop a pool of green-tea creme anglaise. Even in exile, the emperor would have enjoyed this combo of tangy fruit, flaky pastry and rich custard; perhaps this dessert should instead be called Peach Elba.

Service was good, with a knowledgeable, chatty waiter who had an ultra-polite, almost Eddie Haskell-like manner about him. Trey kept us in the loop about the status of our various courses and made sure the right utensils preceded them. As mentioned earlier, our bearnaise request was botched, but that was the only major mistake of the evening. The servers were overly focused on their own tables and didn't stray much into each other's areas, but the busing was good.

An abundance of time, money and energy has been invested in the (new) Skytop to provide diners with lots of amenities and choices. I'm delighted that this old landmark has been given new life.

The Poughkeepsie Journal pays for the meals that are the subjects of restaurant reviews and reviewers do not identify themselves prior to the end of the meal. Daniel Mochon graduated with high honors from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park in 2000. He is the director of wine and cuisine at the Hudson Valley's largest wine and spirits store.